Instyler hair straightener review

Jenny Dayton tries tendrils with this rotating hair straightener

What does it do?As a makeup artist and hair stylist, one of the perks of the job is being sent the newest products on the market to test out.

I was recently sent the Instyler, a hair styling tool marketed which claims to straighten or curl your hair whilst adding glossy shine without using products. Now this I had to try...

The Instyler is quite unique in design and at a glance it looked complicated. It has a rotating heat cylinder along with precision bristles on the other side. Having watched the DVD that comes with it to see how it works, it turns out it’s very easy to use.

To curl, you wrap a section of hair around the cylinder barrel. It’s held secure with bristles on the other side and in seconds the rotating cylinder evenly distributes the heat, leaving a perfect curl. The shine is created by a polishing action from the bristles gently separating each individual hair strand against the rotating cylinder.

To straighten it works in the same way as most hair straighteners would - taking a section at a time between the cylinder and barrel and pulling downwards from root to ends. Though again, the bristles work each strand adding shine.

How long does it take to do hair?The real decider on whether it actually lives up to the revolutionary hype was to put the Instyler to the test. I took the Instyler with me to use on a fashion photo shoot where the brief was to create a chic 70s bohemian look.

The model had very long, course thick and slightly frizzy hair – a perfect challenge. The look I went for was big bouncy teased out curls. I tonged all of her hair, which took 45 minutes instead of an hour thirty minutes. The results were stunning, and lasted throughout the shoot. I was really impressed.

ProsThe Instyler gives you more than one option of how to style your hair. Using less heat than traditional styling tools, you can straighten, create root lift and volume, or go glamorous with big bouncy curls or cute flicks. Not only does it save time, especially curling long hair, but my hair kit is also a lot lighter as I only need one styling tool. It’s also user friendly and accessible to everyone including coarse afro hair, extensions and very fine thin hair, thanks to its three different heat settings.

ConsThe only downside is that the lead is short, so you do need a plug socket very near to where your mirror is when getting ready, but hey, what are extension leads for? All in all a great styling tool, which does the job, very easy to use, and well worth the money.